Teach A Man To Fish...

Ah yes, that old proverb, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life." This was my goal over the weekend with CB. I paid for a photography class right here in Dallas on Sunday, and I dragged him along with me. I have a couple of posts about the subject of boyfriend + camera: 25 Fashion Poses for Lifestyle Bloggers to Feel More Comfortable In Front Of The Camera, and Who Takes Your Pictures? So this class was long overdue. 

He grunted and tried to get out of going to the class about 1,634 times that morning, but I bought him breakfast and set the DVR to record the Cowboys game. This sort of quieted the complaining. I also promised Monkey King afterwards, which is his favorite. If you're in Deep Ellum, Monkey King is a must visit. 

I also pulled the blog card that I only pull when absolutely necessary, "You know, sir, you get to do cool stuff from this blog too..........Remember the Cowboys game a few weeks ago?" That might have been a low blow, but trust me, it was absolutely necessary. He did not want to go. Being the very good smart boyfriend that he is, he conceded defeat, and we headed off to Fair Park where the class was meeting. 

Prior to this class, I had already taken a photography class that I bought on Groupon a couple of years ago, as well as A Beautiful Mess' DSLR basics class -- highly recommend, by the way -- so I handed the camera over to CB so he could do all of the learning. 

The class I had signed us up for, which was run by a company called Photo Sensi, is also offered in Detroit and Chicago. The concept is that you spend the first part learning about your camera, and the second part exploring the city and taking photos. As opposed to the other classes I'd taken, there were no handouts or power point slides, the instructor simply spoke off the top of her head. Personally, I appreciated learning about my camera in the more thorough, classroom setting. 

I surprised myself when I was able to fill in the blanks and answer CB's questions that weren't touched on in the lesson. He surprised me by having questions! It was great!

After the lesson, I was excited that our first stop on the photo tour was my hood, Deep Ellum.  

There wasn't much instruction after this, it was pretty much, Go forth, take photos. I would have appreciated a list of specific shots we were to try and get.

I let CB use me as his subject, since that was kind of the whole point of him taking this class.

I've taken pictures at this wall before, along with every other high school senior in the Metroplex. Look familiar?

I hope I'm not the only one who gets very hormonal (read: total bitch) when my boyfriend attempts to take my picture for a blog post. It would be unsafe to leave sharp objects within several yards of me when I'm having my photo taken.

These poor guys of ours, they're just trying to help.

(Yes but, they are usually so damn impatient, no? Cool your jets bro, you have to be here. Us girls don't ask THAT much from you, do we? Just patiently take 457 photos. Thanks. ) 

After Deep Ellum, the class moved on to Trinity Groves. Trinity Groves is another must visit Dallas destination for both the food and the view. I took one of my favorite Dallas skyline instagram photos here that I used in my gallery wall.

It was very very blah weather, but that gorgeous Dallas skyline makes for the perfect photo, regardless of weather conditions. 

The instructor told us to play around with "freezing motion," so we messed around with my scarf. See what I mean, specific photo tasks are always helpful when you're learning photography.

Hah, nerd alert.... Effortless is not my middle name. 

How good did CB do on this one? ^^^ 

See... teach a man to fish..... I'm on to something here guys. 

Next thing you know we'll be just like Gal Meets Glam and her photog husband. 
That was a little fashion blogger humor. 

So there you go. I've discovered the one real secret behind being a blogger. Train your boyfriend/husband to use the camera.

To sum up today's post on "How To Get Your Boyfriend/Husband To Take A Photo Class":

1. Feed them before hand (bacon highly encouraged)   

2. Promise to feed them afterwards. Something they don't normally get to eat. Something that gets them excited. 

3. Guilt trip. i.e. "You remember that Cowboys game I took you to a couple weeks ago?! " 

4. Feed them and give praise upon completion.  

Monkey King was had unfortunately closed by the time class was over, so we opted for Off-site Kitchen instead. 

CB was happy. I was happy. We were all happy!